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2011 International & Single Seater News News
of young WRDA members who are competing in the International & Single Seater arena. |
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SEB MORRIS – 2011 GINETTA JUNIOR CHAMPION!
Welsh teenager Seb Morris won the Ginetta Junior Championship title in
style at Brands Hatch Grand Prix Circuit over the weekend, 1st/2nd October, with a double
podium finish during rounds 17 and 18 of the season. Still aged only 15, he has added the
Ginetta Junior Championship to his 2010 Winter Series Championship success, making it a
double Championship win for the Wrexham driver in 12 months!.
Sealing the title with
two races still to run, WRDA member Seb made sure of the success with two typically strong
drives, knowing two solid race finishes over the weekend, would secure the championship.
On the hottest autumn weekend for 100 years, Seb qualified fifth fastest for round 17 and
battled through brilliantly to notch-up his 12th win of the season, only for an
unfortunate post-race judicial decision relegated him to second behind Niall Murray.
Bundled back to sixth
place on the opening lap, Seb sensibly remained out of trouble during the early exchanges
and allowed the bunch ahead to trade paintwork as the race unfolded. Contact involving
Sennan Fielding and George Gamble on lap four elevated Seb to fourth before he moved into
third, and then second, in quick succession on lap six.
On lap seven, Murray got
ahead of Seb on the run to Druids and his rival then made an attempt on leader Jake
Giddings at Surtees which resulted in the latter being pushed wide. Seb, therefore, took
second and then piled on the pressure to new leader Murray.
At Druids on lap eight,
Morris took first place up the inside, and held the advantage going into the final lap.
Into the hairpin for the last time, Seb and Murray challenged side-by-side which ended
with the Irishman sliding wide after contact, as Seb powered on to take the victory and
the title in style.
Post-race, Murray and his
team lodged a protest, and Seb was given a three second time penalty, which dropped him to
second in the amended result. Even so, the finish was enough to secure the title.
Lining-up eighth on the
grid for Sundays round 18, Seb quickly carved his way through into the top six and then
went fifth on the first lap while avoiding an incident involving Fielding and William
Foster. On lap four, Seb then moved into fourth at Druids at the expense of Giddings but
the latter fought back out of Pilgrim’s Drop which put the champion in the clutches
of Patrick McClughan.
Re-taking fourth off
Giddings at Clark Curve at the end of the fifth tour, the Hillspeed ace defended the place
well into Paddock Hill Bend. Then, on lap seven, everything changed at the front when
leader Myles Collins and Brad Bailey had visits through the gravel exiting Paddock –
Seb threading his way through the drama neatly to take second place.
Pressuring new
front-runner Charlie Robertson, Seb challenged at almost every corner over the course of
the eighth and final lap but settled for his second runner-up spot of the weekend, just
0.181 seconds shy of the win at the flag.
“That was an
absolutely great race, I really enjoyed it”, reflected Seb, “There was loads of
action and to come through from eighth and nearly win was fantastic. We proved our point
again this weekend, and to win the championship with races in hand shows what a strong
season it’s been for us.”
Photo (l-r) Matt Shawyer (Driver Coach), Andy Meyrick
(Manager), Seb Morris and Richard Ollerenshaw (Hillspeed team principal)
Of the 18 rounds contested so far, the Liberty Properties and
Legat Owen-sponsored driver has taken 11 race victories and 14 podiums in total;
statistics which underline his sheer dominance of the hugely competitive category. Seb’s
title victory is also the second back-to-back main season triumph for his Hillspeed team.
“It’s been a
great season, we’ve worked really hard for this”, said the new champion, “I
can’t thank the team enough, they do everything so precisely and have done a
fantastic job this year. My driver coach, Matt Shawyer, is the reason I’ve been as
fast as I have and my manager, Andy Meyrick, has looked after everything off-track for me.
It’s a proper team effort, I’m really happy we’ve done it.”
With the championship
done and dusted, Seb can go into the final two rounds of the campaign at Silverstone on
15th/16th October with no pressure on his shoulders and a golden opportunity to try and
challenge for yet more podium finishes.
Provisional 2011 Ginetta
Junior Championship Driver Standings (after Rd18 – inc. drop scores):
CHAMPION: Seb Morris, 515points. 2nd Charlie Robertson 391 pts, 3rd
George Gamble 359 pts, 4th Niall Murray 296 pts.
Photos Jakob Ebrey
Photography
More information
available at http://www.sebmorris.com
Seb Morris is sponsored
by Liberty Properties and Legat Owen
Media Contact: Marc Orme
at Marc Orme Media & PR http://www.marc-orme.co.uk